Fanfare Ciocarlia @ Calgary Folk Music Festival | JUL 25

Their craft gleaned at the feet of their fathers and grandfathers set them up to entertain and keep the true spirit of Gypsy, or Roma, music alive. Fanfare Ciocărlia are the brass orchestra from the “hidden” village of Zece Prajini. Situated in a misty valley, its dirt roads are occupied by flocks of geese, horses and carts plus eighty farming families. Somehow the ancient Ottoman tradition of brass bands accompanying armies, weddings and funerals continued to exist here.

When a young German music fan wandered into the village in 1996 he found a living tradition the world soon embraced. When Fanfare Ciocărlia – whose name translates as “lark’s song” – conquered Europe in 1997, their furious live blast appealed to punks and headbangers, jazz and funk fans and world music aficionados alike. Their breakneck speed, technical chops, ripping rhythms and sweet and sour horns differ from other brass bands.

Their eerie Balkan groove has had them star in several films and earned a commission from Sacha Baron Cohen for the Borat soundtrack. They have been sampled and covered, championed and emulated by countless DJs, and artists plus effortlessly “gypsify” any music they get their horns on through radical reinterpretations of popular Western standards.

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